A Guide to Superfood Powders
Superfood powders are an easy way to enhance the nutrient power of your diet and their scope goes way beyond just super greens. Fruit powder, vegetable powder, protein powder (and yes, greens powder) can all help you maximise your intake of superfood nutrients. In this article we explore the subject of superfood powders and look at some of these in more detail.
Before we begin, why not read our article on superfoods and nutrition first? It is a great nutrition primer and introduction to superfoods.
What is superfood powder?
Superfood powders are nutritionally dense foods, most often fruits and vegetables, that have been dehydrated and ground to a fine powder. Convenient, easy to use, and with a longer shelf life than fresh produce, they are an easy way to increase your nutrient intake.
Boost Nutrients superfood powders are made from high quality fruits, roots, leaves and seeds that, where possible, are organic and sourced from within Australia. We support minimal intervention, pesticide-free farming and try to reflect this in our products as much as we can.
Some superfood powders are blended, and are often targeted at specific concerns. They contain a range of different ingredients and provide an overall spectrum of nutrients. Some may 'boost vitality' whilst others are designed to 'strengthen your immunity'. They may, not always, contain smaller amounts of the most expensive ingredients.
Here at Boost Nutrients we make pure superfood powders, made of a single ingredient, that gives you ultimate control. Each powder, fruit or vegetable, is a superfood in its own right, with its own unique nutrient profile. They range from the exotic, like maca root powder, to the down right boring, like kale. Sorry, kale.
How are superfood powders made?
Our powders are not freeze dried. Despite what a superficial search on the internet may tell you, current understanding actually shows that there are better ways to preserve nutrients in dehydrated fruit and vegetables. We make our superfood powders with a totally different technology, that retains a higher percentage of nutrients, flavour, aroma, and colour. The resulting powders form a crystalline structure that is also more easily dissolved for maximum efficiency. This process is called low temperature continuous evaporation. A low heat method of vacuum drying, it is considered to be 'the ideal method for drying oxygen sensitive materials, such as fruits and vegetables'.
Is superfood powder good for you?
Superfood powders are a great addition to you diet, especially if it is lacking in fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables.
As we have seen, fresh produce deteriorates rapidly whilst powdered fruits and vegetables are processed as close to harvesting as possible. They are already ahead of the game when it comes to retention of vital nutrients.
The nutrient profile of a single ingredient powder is the same as the fruit from which it is made. As with whole produce, the best way to experience a wide range of benefits is to broaden your food choices and incorporate as much variety as possible in your daily diet. Mix it up!
One thing most superfood powders have in common is high levels of antioxidants.
Do superfood powders contain fibre?
The fibre present in fruits and vegetables is still there in powder form as the only thing that has been removed is the water. It has been broken down, so you do lose the mechanical benefits of fibre on digestion, but other than that the fibre remains.
Soluble fibre is often a contributor to superfood status, so produce that is high in insoluble fibre (such as the pectin in raspberries) will retain all of its nutritional benefit.
How to use superfood powder
Can you mix superfood powders?
Our pure, single ingredient, superfood powders are easy to mix together to come up with fresh tasting ideas or specific combinations of nutrients. Just be sure to stay within the individual dehydration guidelines for each specific powder. It is pretty impossible to overdose on fruits and vegetables but a little goes a long way.
How to make superfood powder taste good.
Many superfood powders taste great already. Fruits such as mango, or berries, taste pretty much the same as they do when fresh. Vegetable smoothies, especially green smoothies, can take a bit of getting used to even when made using fresh produce. Using a powder doesn't change that, so you may need to get a little creative.
How much superfood powder in a smoothie?
It all depends whether you want to simply boost a smoothie that has been made with fresh produce, or reconstitute a larger amount of powder in order to substitute the fresh produce. Amounts vary depending on the powder in question so it is best to go by the individual guidelines.
Does superfood powder expire?
As a food product, all superfood powders will have a best before date. Whilst they don't expire exactly, they will slowly degrade over time and their nutrient content will diminish, especially once opened. That said, they will be good for several months at least, just take care to reseal it well once open as the powders will absorb moisture and be exposed to oxidation.
On the flip side, fresh produce begins to lose its nutrient value the moment it is harvested. Even before it begins to break down and become inedible it has lost a good percentage of its vitamin and mineral content. A banana in the fruit bowl will probably last a week, max.
The difference between fruit powders and fresh fruit
Although fruit powders retain many of their nutrients they have a very different composition to fresh fruit. Nothing can replace the sensation of biting into a ripe peach and juice dripping down your chin, or the scent of the seasons first strawberries. There are many reasons for enjoying food, and not all of them are nutritional.
But fruit powders do have certain advantages. They have a longer shelf life, for more convenience and less waste. They are also easy to prepare and exceptionally versatile.
What can you do with fruit powder?
- sprinkle on porridge
- mix into milk or yoghurt
- add to your homemade granola mix
- stir into your baking (including frosting)
- stir into ice cream
- mix into spice blends and dry rubs
- add to your herbal tea blends
- stir into salad dressing (mango is great)
and of course...smoothies!
Explore our range of fruit powders
Are powdered vegetables as good as fresh?
In the same way that there needs to be a place in the diet for whole fresh fruit, fresh vegetables should be making up a huge percentage of your daily meals. Yet, other than their shelf life and versatility, vegetable powders (especially greens) do have one huge advantage; many, many people quite literally will not eat their greens. Most people enjoy fruit as it is sweet, but there a lot of people that miss out on the nutrients that vegetables offer. It is all too easy to tell people to focus their meals around vegetables, but what if they don't? Given a choice between beetroot powder baked into a chocolate muffin or no beetroot at all, we know which we would choose.
How to use vegetable powder
- sprinkle over popcorn
- add to soups, stews, curries and sauces
- add to salad dressing
- mix into your muffin and bread mixes (even cake)
- stir into dips
- create savoury spice blends
- stir into rice
- add to scrambled eggs and omelettes
Explore our range of vegetable powders
Greens powders come under the same category as vegetable powders but they deserve a special mention. Greens are the holy grail of the vegetable world, and quite often the one group of produce that we could all do with more of. Eating a bowl of berries is easy, or even a plate of carrot sticks, but working your way through a big plate of greens is another story entirely.
Many commercial greens powders are blends of highly nutritious green foods. Seaweed and algae are top of the ingredients list. A little goes a very long way, which is a good job as they generally taste vile.
Boost Nutrients greens powders are single ingredient powders made from good old Australian-grown greens. You can use them anywhere in your cooking that you might add a handful of greens, and in foods that maybe you wouldn't. Throw them in a curry sauce, or a soup, or to make your fresh pasta dough green.
Don't forget, matcha is a powerful green superfood powder too!
Protein powders are slightly different from superfood powders in that they are designed to provide little other than additional protein. Some foods are considered superfoods because of their levels of protein, or the amino acids they provide, but these are more likely to be part of a broad spectrum superfood powder than a protein powder.
However, protein powders are a valuable addition to the nutritional supplement arsenal. We do make protein powders (both dairy and vegan) but will not go into further detail in this particular article.
Why not explore our range of superfoods, and even save by buying in bulk today.
This article was reproduced on this site with permission from operafoods.com.au the “Superfoods powders suppliers”.
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